DAM SAFETY AND PORTFOLIO RISK MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Transcription

1 DAM SAFETY AND PORTFOLIO RISK MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES Caius Priscu, Ph.D, P.Eng, Head of Mineral Residue Facilities IBRAM / MAC Panel Session on Tailings Management 24 th World Mining Congress, Rio de Janeiro, 19 October

2 Number of dams ANGLO AMERICAN PORTFOLIO OF DAMS A global team responsibility Total of 337 TSFs and water retaining dams across South America, Southern Africa, Canada and Australia Governed centrally via globally experienced team Close collaboration with Business Unit Champions Internal standard for all facilities (tailings dams, water dams, waste rock, discard dumps and stockpiles) Surface Flooding Standard Water dam heights across the Group No Dam < 5 5 to to 15 to 20 to 30 to 40 to > Height of dam (m)

3 THE MINERAL RESIDUE AND WATER CONTAINMENT STANDARD The five pillars 1. CCS ratings for each structure - Five classes: Insignificant, Minor, Moderate, High and Major - Directly impacts design criteria, monitoring and surveillance practices, including frequency - Focused on consistency in classification of all structures Consequence Classification Tailings Dams Ratings at Group Level Insignificant 3 Minor 18 Major Competent Person - Minimum of 1 person per BU - All Major CCS rated facilities require a dedicated person - Standard defines competency requirements High 20 Moderate Engineer of Record (EoR) - Typically an engineering firm, and not an individual - w/ firm contract and clear involvement in supervision and surveillance 4. Technical Review Panel (TRP) for Mineral Residue Facilities - One per BU, minimum 3 person of mixed technical specialties - Independent and advisory in nature 5. Documentation requirements (25 key documents w/ sign-offs) - Part of the standard and its associated metrics - Non-negotiable; not just documents it is their content and quality that matter 3

4 TRAINING SESSIONS (LEADING PRACTICES AND STANDARDS) MINERAL RESIDUE FACILITIES DISCIPLINE - SUPPORT AND PORTFOLIO OVERSIGHT PROCESS (HIGH LEVEL) Business Unit / Operation Level BU / OPS RISK ASSESSMENT PROCESS IMPLEMENT RISK MITIGATION MEASURES & CONTROLS MONITOR & REVIEW CORRECT & LEARN Identify Hazards Analyze/ Evaluate Risks Establish Controls ISSUE REVIEW REPORT WITH PRIORITY ACTION ITEMS TO: Optimize processes, and Identify hazards and recommend leading practices in order to mitigate / treat risks COMPLETE SITE VISITS, BU & OPERATIONAL SUPPORT, PROJECT REVIEWS & INTERNAL ASSURANCE SUPPORT RANK, CLASSIFY STRUCTURES & PRIORITIZE FIELD WORK FOR: Site visits & support Audits and reviews PROVIDE SUPPORT & FEEDBACK TO OTHER GROUPS WITHIN T&S PREPARE PROJECT REVIEWS (STAGE GATE REVIEWS) TO GROUP PROJECTS PREPARE INPUT TO INTERNAL ASSURANCE PROCESS, PRIORITIES & SCHEDULE BU RISK PROFILE - MRF RISK TABLES (ANNUAL) TECHINCAL SPECIALIST SUPPORT TO INTERNAL ASSURANCE AUDITS = PRCRs (Process Risk & Controls Register) T&S Group Projects MRF Discipline Tan color BU / Operation activity Dark blue color T&S Group Projects, Mineral Residue Facilities team REVIEW & ANALIZE DATA Risk tables from BUs Site visits Audits and review processes ANNUAL MRF OVERSIGHT REPORT TO: Board Sustainability Committee 4

5 SURVEILLANCE, INSPECTION & ASSURANCE PROGRAMS AT MINERAL RESIDUE FACILITIES IN ANGLO AMERICAN T&S Group Projects, Mineral Residue Facilities Project and operational reviews, best practices implementation & risk management support INTERNAL AUDITING / T&S Technical Assurance Critical Controls Reviews TRP (Ext.) Annual Technical Review Panel (Independent) TECHNICAL STANDARD BU Champion (Int.) Routine site visits / Governance / Audits / Support Engineer of Record (Ext.) Monthly / Quarterly / Annual Inspections Operation (Int.) Routine inspections (field staff) 5

6 CHALLENGES MOVING FORWARD Mineral residue and water containment facilities management discipline 1. Competent persons revisiting (and appreciating) the Civil Engineering professionals Hydrotechnical / geotechnical engineers Complex facilities to manage = multi-disciplinary teams Retention of quality professionals in a core business function 2. Technical Review Panels Availability of independent sr. reviewers Where has the experience gone? cannot fight demographics! Nurturing bench strength in the next generation of reviewers 3. Dewatering, dewatering, and dewatering Filtered tailings not a silver bullet, limitations are obvious. Or are they? Is there enough applied research in this field? Do we Collaborate enough? Are we underspending? Is dewatering an excessively narrow focus in terms of innovation? 4. Surveillance of dams and technology We are well behind the hydropower industry in this area, but we have larger dams, and we are adding more at a faster rate Satellite technology is partially applicable - Is fibre optic cable the answer? Reliability of on-line monitoring systems integrated databases do we know what we are missing? Inspection apps Anglo American moving forward Group-wide also an educational opportunity 5. Managing change over long-lived facilities Ore and process variability cognisance of issues, and impacts on the facility over long time Governance programs report to the right levels and follow up on action items Quality change management = good OMS manuals and overlapping in key positions Reduce costs by producing less tailings and recovering more water back to technology and innovation. 6

7 THANK YOU! THANK YOU 7